That Positive Feeling, and Why It's Shared

Saturday

Jan 25, 2014 at 12:01 AMJan 25, 2014 at 12:30 AM

c.2014 New York Times News Service

c.2014 New York Times News Service

After reading Maria Konnikova’s fascinating post in The New Yorker about what makes stories go viral, I wondered if designers were thinking more and more along the lines she described when they create collections.

Obviously, for most fashion brands, the design process is a mixture of creative instinct, necessity and merchandising: Hey, we need some great coats! Designers have long talked about creating emotional pieces, which usually means something heart-stoppingly beautiful or presented with a literary narrative. A few designers truly have the capacity to arouse feelings — Rei Kawakubo and Alexander McQueen come to mind. So, just to be clear, I am not putting their motives in the same category as “Baby Polar Bear’s Feeder Dies,” one of the headlines Konnikova cited as an example of the kind of affecting story that gets widely shared.

Actually, I’ve noticed fewer attempts on the runway to evoke emotion, perhaps because we lack gifted designers but mainly, I suspect, because audiences no longer expect it from a show. Instead, they seem to want the designer’s message neatly spelled out. Well, almost like those 10-things-you-need-to-know stories that pop up on Yahoo.

In the pre-fall collections and in the men’s fall shows that just ended in Europe, I detected a strong desire to be not merely well edited, in fashion-speak, but also practical and genuinely informative. As an example, look at the way Alessandro Sartori of Berluti drilled down on the notion of wearing a monochromatic tie and shirt with a slightly contrasting suit. You wonder if that was just a styling gesture or if Sartori was unconsciously relating to how other kinds of daily information is presented.

Positivism is apparently a big factor in what goes viral. If there is one quality that unites many of the pre-fall and spring couture collections, it is that they express a sense of pleasure and energy. Think of the couture shows of Dior and Chanel, which featured sneakers, airy layers and embroidery that nearly mimicked sports mesh. The clothes may be beautifully made (and beyond the reach of most people), but they’re hardly solemn or burdened with references.

The Lanvin pre-fall collection was one of my favorites. Despite the emphasis on a casual attitude, with blazers and sweatpants, the designs looked very considered. They might reflect a demand for more reality in fashion, as Alber Elbaz said, but I think they were charged with something more — maybe a positive feeling. I felt the same about Angela Missoni’s fall men’s clothes. More than being wittily offhand, they were sympathetic to the idea of feeling good.

So, in the spirit of those need-to-know lists, here are few more points: